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Wednesday, November 19, 2014

The
thing about South Indian cuisine apart from being extremely tasty is
that they are mostly full of rice-based dishes. And being more health
conscious now, I try to replicate the popular dishes with something
healthy. In some cases it is replacing rice with oats or wheat. Here
I tried out making Bisi Bele Bhath with oats instead of rice and the
results were quite satisfactory.

Bisi
bele bhath is a famous rice-based dish Karnataka. Bisi-bele-bhath
translates to hot-lentil-rice in the Kannada language. It is also
known as Bisi bele huliyanna. The preparation of this dish is quite
elaborate, involving preparation of spice powder. The spices used,
contribute to the unique flavor and taste of this dish. It is served
hot along with boondi or potato chips.

So here's
our Oats BBB, in fact simpler to make than the traditional one...

Monday, October 27, 2014

Have been visiting the city library
quite often these days, especially for little Adu who loves books
and also the time he gets to spend at the baby section there, with
other kids and truck loads of books. And then after that I get
drifted towards the cookery section and get carried away by the
wonderful cook and bake books there. Just can't resist myself from
picking up a couple of them. And then I come home and sit with the
books, adoring and admiring the recipes, the pictures, the author for
all the hard work and dream about making a few of them, and note a
few... And occasionally I do attempt to make one or two too, after
all the drooling! And a couple of times, it so happened that I
returned the books without noting the recipes that I tried from them
and liked. And return back to the library again, looking for the same
book, so as to note down at least the one I tried!

So this time, when I came home with the
humongous book 'The Bread Bible' by Rose Levy Beranbaum, I was
determined to make a few of them, and to note them down before
returning! And so I tried out this recipe, as I was also looking for
a recipe to make use of the dried cranberries that I had got and the
pack of walnuts lying in the kitchen. The recipe is originally a
Raisin Pecan bread, to which the author suggests this variation of
cranberries and walnuts.

The bread turned out very nice, with a
beautiful texture. The process however was a bit more lengthy than
the ones I usually prefer, with the sponge and its resting time
taking up extra hours, but then its not a complicated process anyway.
Just needs more time, and the end result was a really beautiful loaf.
I've simplified it by using a loaf pan, as opposed to shaping a free
form loaf and baking on a sheet.

Here's the recipe, shortened from the
version in the book...

Cranberry Walnut
Bread

Preparation time: 10-15 min

Dough starter: min 1 ½ hrs, max 24 hrs

Minimum Rising time: abt 3 ½ hours

Baking time: 45 – 55 min

Source:
Rose Levy Beranbaum's 'The Bread Bible'

Ingredients:

For the Soaked Cranberries

Dried Cranberries
– 1 cup

Hot water – 1/3
cup

For the Sponge / Dough Starter

Bread Flour - 1 cup

Instant Yeast – ½ tsp

Water at Room temperature - 1 cup (Incl
cranberry soaking water)

Honey / Light Corn syrup – 1 Tbsp

For the flour mixture:

Bread flour – 1 ¼ cup

Whole wheat flour – 1/3 cup

Instant Yeast – ¾ tsp

Walnuts – 2 cups, divided use

Salt – 1 ¼ tsp

Vegetable oil - 1
Tbsp

Method:

Soak the Cranberries in
the hot water for about 30 min, until soft and plump

Drain them and reserve the water
in a 1 cup measuring jar

Add more water to make this 1 cup
water to use in the sponge below

Prepare walnuts: Toast
the walnuts either on stovetop or in the over at 170deg C for about
7 minutes. Peel off the skin with a clean kitchen towel as much as
possible

Finely
grind ½ cup of this along with whole wheat flour. Chop the other 1
½ cups into fine pieces and keep aside.

Make the Sponge:
In a large bowl or mixer bowl, place the ingredients for the starter
and whisk for about 2 min until very smooth.

Scrape
down the sides, cover with a wrap and set aside while making the
flour mixture

Make the flour mixture:
Mix together all the ingredients except the chopped walnuts, oil,
salt and a ¼ cup of flour. Spoon the mixture over the sponge
lightly and cover tightly and let sit for 1 to 4 hours. The sponge
will bubble through the flour mixture.

Mix the dough: Add
the salt and oil, and mix with a wooden spoon or with hands to bring
the dough together. Knead for 5 minutes adding the reserved flour to
prevent sticking.

Keep
covered for about 20 minutes and again knead the dough for 5 minutes
till very smooth and elastic.

Spread
the dough into a rectangle and add the walnuts and soaked
cranberries over it and roll it and mix it in to evenly distribute.

Let the dough rise until
it is double in volume for about 1 ½ hours, placing it in an oiled
bowl, covered with a cling wrap.

Shape the dough into
a 11” long loaf on a floured counter. I simply shaped it into a
greased loaf pan and spread it to fill it. Let the dough rise till
double again, for about an hour

Preheat oven to 220 deg C
(400 F) and place a cast iron skillet or a sheet pan in the lowest
shelf for water.

Bake the bread: Slash
the bread with a sharp knife ¼ to ½ inch deep parallel slashes on
the top of the dough. Mist the dough with a little water and quickly
place it on the oven.

Toss
½ cup ice cubes into the tray at the bottom shelf of the oven and
close the oven door quickly.

Bake
for 5 minutes and reduce the oven temperature to 180 deg C (375 F)
and continue baking for 40 – 50 min until the top is golden, and a
skewer inserted comes out clean or the bread internal temperature
reads 190 F (Mine was done in 45 min)

Cool the bread on
a wire rack for about 2 hours before slicing it with a serrated
knife into slices

Notes:

This is a variation of the Raisin
Pecan bread that Rose suggests in the book

I added a mixture of cranberries
and raisins.

I reduced the cranberries and
walnuts by about half a cup thinking it was to much, but then later
realised the amounts given by the author were perfect. Mine seemed a
little too less in the bread

Friday, July 18, 2014

I can never get enough of chocolate!
Well, I looove to bake with chocolates and trying out different
chocolate based bakes makes me happy! And well, who doesn't like
cakes and cookies with chocolates? So it is Chocolate wafers this
this around here!

I thought of deferring posting this as
my previous post was Wacky Chocolate Cake, but couldn't resist my
temptation to share it! The pics of other stuff that I've made and
shot are not yet processed and why not post the same, I thought....

Well, these chocolate wafers are really
simple to put together. The dough making took hardly 15 minutes of my
time and then off it went to the fridge, in the form of logs. The
excess can be dumped into the freezer too! It can be pulled out of
the refrigerator whenever necessary, cut into slices and baked. And
the baking time is also very little – 10 minutes for a batch is
nothing, if you ask me, especially what comes out is a batch of drool
worthy, chocolaty cookies!

And did I tell you these have very very little fat?? And they stay fresh for about two weeks!! Hope you'll enjoy these as much as we
did! Here's the recipe....

Monday, June 30, 2014

You will be having a bunch of guests in the next hour and after cooking a meal for them you realize you have not made a dessert! You can fix it by serving the vanilla ice cream stocked up in the freezer, but is that enough? How you curse yourself for not having baked a chocolate cake for the dessert! But the thought of measuring, creaming, mixing, baking just before the guests arrive dreads you. Especially the washing of the numerous measuring, mixing bowls that end up in the sink after a bake. Honestly that is what scares most of us!

For such a situation, who doesn't need some easy breezy, quick and dirty, mess free recipes in one's repository? How much ever you love to bake those elaborate, hi-fi recipes, which require accurate measurements, lengthy instructions on the method, which should be followed very carefully and exactly, I bet you sometimes long for a carefree and easy recipe to bake, something that does not require weighing the ingredients carefully, not needing a mixer to mix with, something that you can dump the ingredients and mix it with a spatula and bake. And what if it is an egg-free, dairy free recipe, making it suitable with almost any kind of crowd? And wait, here comes the ultimate catch - you will not end up washing the dozen utensils after pushing the baking pan into the oven!! All you'll have is a spatula, and may be a measuring cup. Yes, you read that right!!

I came across this recipe somewhere on the net while browsing and it caught my attention for two reasons. One, the simplicity and strange uniqueness of the recipe and two and most importantly, it is egg free and dairy free, making it suitable for my little kiddo to try, as he is allergic to dairy. Wow! Of course he is too small yet to have the cake for himself, and all he got was a taste of it, and the rest of it was polished by you know who :D And of course some taste testers in the hubby's office ;)

So, as i said earlier, the procedure is very simple, and kind of weird, if you ask me! You mix the dry ingredients straight away in the baking pan - yes, baking pan, and make three indentations to pour each wet ingredient in, and pour water all over and mix with a spatula! And bake, voila! Does this not sound weird? Of course it did to me, when I read it, but many sites I looked for said the same, which managed to give me the courage to try it. But I didn't want to risk baking it half an hour before guests arrive, before testing it. So this was a test bake, and quite satisfactory. So the next time, if you come home in a short notice, you know what to expect for the dessert ;)

As for the taste, it is not bad at all. Be sure not to over-bake as it dries out pretty fast. And serve it preferably warm, with a sprinkle of vanilla sugar or a topping and some vanilla ice cream. Trust me, you will not regret for having tried it, and the recipe will get into your repository of quick fix, emergency recipes.

Since I have already tested it for you, you can straight away try this for your guests, without having to test bake it :) here you go.....

Wacky / Crazy Chocolate cake

The sources say this cake came to being during war times when there was a scarcity for ingredients and so on... whatever it is, it is a handy recipe for sure!

Monday, June 16, 2014

Here comes the next variety of infant malt, again prepared by mom.
This is a combination of ragi (finger millet), wheat, rice and green
gram. All the grains are sprouted, dried, and then ground. We did not
sieve it, as we wanted some texture to remain, making Adu go one step
further from very smooth porridge. However it is fine enough to feed
a 6 month old.

I introduced this to him after 3 weeks of starting on solids,
after the first plain ragi malt was finished. He did take moderately
well to this, though not as much as the former one. I realised it was
probably because of the weird flavour that green gram added to the
malt. I tried by cooking it for longer, and the green gram flavour
subsided considerably. He then started enjoying it.

Now, after he is 8 months old, I've been giving him a lot of semi
solids and a few soft dosas and other stuff, but this ragi malt also
features in his diet quite regularly, which he enjoys. Having a tin
of home made malt comes in really handy at times, when the kiddo is
bored of other stuff, or you want to mix and match and experiment
(More about the experiments later)

Monday, June 9, 2014

People have started asking me now, how I get the time to try many cooking and baking recipes and even blog about them, with an almost 8-month old. Well, I guess if one wants to do something, one figures out a way to! I tell them I get more time now, than when I did with him in my tummy!! Being the footballer he is, he'd kick every food that went into my tummy and I'd throw up almost every meal! Which left me with not much of an appetite to eat or cook! Seems so funny now, to look back... how I hated cooking or anything to do with food, except occasionally enjoying eating out. The interesting meals that D or Amma churned out frequently, tailored to suit my changed taste buds, the super sensitive nose, changed tummy capacity, with reduced spice levels would please me only occasionally... and then there was this question of whether the little fellow inside would decide to not it kick out!! So as a result of all these the blog suffered inactivity too.

And now, with my lil one being fond of watching me cook, right from the time he's 2 months old, I am loving to churn out different things - cooking and baking. He loves to sit in his little chair, earlier in his bouncing chair, watching me talk, and sing and cook or bake. I hand him a light weight, baby safe cutlery or a colorful wrapper or something that keeps him occupied for a few minutes and quickly dish out something. Most of the times, I had not been able to feed the little one what I cook as he was too small, but now, I guess I can start giving him a taste of many of the delicious stuff that i prepare.

So, coming to the recipe of this post, these are rottis/flatbread made of fine semolina. The semolina is cooked first in water and then, kneaded when still warm and rolled to rotis and cooked on a skillet. It does not require any oil for cooking except for a few drops that are used for kneading the dough. The resulting rotti is soft, almost melt in the mouth, that goes along well with many curries and gravies. It is similar to the Ubbu rotti prepared with rice flour but a bit easier that them for kneading and rolling.

Well, don't get scared to attempt these reading the steps, it is not very difficult than making normal chapathis/roties... just a step or two more... But the result will be totally worth it.... So here's how we make it....

Rave Rotti / Sooji Roti / Semolina Flatbread

Preparation time : 15 min

Cooking time : 5 min for the dough and 2 min for each rotti

Makes : 10-12

Ingredients:

Fine Semolina (Chiroti rava/sooji) - 2 cups

Maida / Whole wheat flour - for dusting

Water - 2 cups (This usually works fine but you'll know the exact amount required for your sooji after one trial)

Salt - ½ tsp, or as per taste

Cooking Oil - 2 tsp

Method:

In a heavy bottomed pan, boil water by adding salt and a few drops of oil

Once water starts boiling, add semolina and let it remain for 4-5 minutes on medium low flame

At the end of it, take a strong ladle and continuously stir, avoiding lumps. A wooden one works better

Turn off the heat and continue mixing as much as possible. The resulting dough should be similar to that of papad dough - soft, but non sticky

Let it cool for a couple of minutes so that it can be handled

Divide the dough into 3-4 parts and knead it well, smearing a few drops of oil. See notes below for easier ways.

Once the dough is kneaded well into a soft but firm dough, take small lemon sized balls and roll it using rolling pin like a chapatti/roti. Use a little amount of maida or atta for dusting.

Heat a griddle on high flame and cook the rolled rotti on both sides by flipping. Ensure not to brown the rotti. Appearance of light brownish spots indicates that it is done.

Repeat the same with rest of the dough

Serve hot with some palya/gojju/chutney

Notes:

To avoid your palms getting burnt while kneading the hot dough, fill it in thick polythene and cover it in a towel / thick cloth and knead it over it. This way a smooth and soft dough will be ready in a jiffy

Knead it, make into balls before you start rolling. This saves time and effort, and it gets easier to roll and then cook simultaneously. Or you can roll all of them first and then cook them one after the other. To stack up the rolled rotis make sure you've dusted them well, to prevent sticking to each other

The better you knead, the easier it is to roll. If the dough is not kneaded well, while rolling the rottis start cracking and gets difficult to handle

Monday, May 26, 2014

It's amazing how time flies in a rocket speed, especially when it
comes to babies. It is as if it were yesterday that I was soooo
pregnant, counting days till the due date, and waiting desperately to
the little naughty fellow inside, who was making it so difficult for
me to eat or sleep! And Adu is now already seven months old! Seven
months!! How soon did the time fly off??

But I'm glad I'm living every single moment with him, enjoying all
that he does, most of the time. I can sit for hours with him, just
admiring this little sweet fellow and feel blessed! May be this is
what is called Motherhood!

I started giving him solids after he completed six months, and
boy, was he eager to start eating! He used to see us all eat and
drink various things, especially when in India, with lot of people
around. He had naturally become curious about this 'eating' business!
I didn't want to start solids till we travelled back here, and till
he completed six months and so poor he, had to wait. He however, had
started his eating business with the occasional kheers/payasas that
the ajjis specially made dairy free and fed him. He used to devour
it, his ajjis would beam in joy, while I would worry he'd reject his
baby foods later if he got used to the sweet taste first. He was,
however, quite adaptable, even in this case and accepted my
salt-less, sugar-less preparations equally well.

Mom prepared two varieties of ragi based malt for him, so that
it'd be easy for me back here. Here's the first one, with just ragi /
finger millet, sprouted, powdered and sieved with a cloth. Ragi is
considered one of the best home made foods for infants in Karnataka,
Andhra and Maharashtra. This is a wonderful food for starting on
solids for the following reasons:

Food quality of finger millet is enhanced by sprouting finger
millet.

Food prepared from malt is easily digestible

By sprouting, salts in finger millet are easily available to
the body

Water soluble vitamins will increase and the quantity of anti
nutrients will decrease

Adu loved his first food and was eagerly looking forward to his
meal times as long as I gave him only this malt. The pack Amma had
sent lasted for about 3 weeks after which I started with 'Ragi Sari',
another malt with ragi, and other grains.

Vadda Ragi Hittu / Finger millet Malt

Ingredients:

Ragi - 1 kg (Amma had made with only about half a kilo of ragi,
which didn't last long)

Method:

Wash cleaned ragi and soak it in water for 24 hours

Drain the water in a colander and cover it loosely.

Allow it to sprout for one full fay or a little more if the
weather is cold.

Dry sprouted ragi in shade completely till all the wetness is
gone.

Roast it in a pan on a low flame till it gives aroma

Cool and grind it to fine powder.

Sieve it with a fine cloth, discarding the residue (or mix it
with any other flours used for adults or add to dosa batter, rather
than just wasting it)

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Dates are packed with an impressive list of essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. Dates are an excellent source of iron, contains 0.90 mg/100 g of fruits. Iron, being a component of hemoglobin inside the red blood cells, determines the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood. It is highly recommended for vegetarians to counter anemia.

If you are someone like me, you find dates are a tad too sweet to eat as is. It is with great difficulty that i manage to eat a couple of them, and then get really saturated with it! So, I'd rather like to add them as sweeteners to my milkshakes, smoothies and so on, which will have an added benefit of reducing sugar! And then another nice way to use up these fruits are in bakes... as there would be less guilt for using much less of the bad-sugar and sneaking a good-fruit!

In this case, it is paired with another ingredient filled with nutrients - almonds. And the almonds, along with giving a nice nutty taste and texture, helps in reducing the amount of fat that goes in. It was a perfect recipe for my baking itch.

It can be baked as a cake, as in the original recipe, but i chose to bake them as muffins/cup cakes. I'd rather call these as muffins than cup cakes owing to the oil used, the mix-n-bake preparation and the final texture. They make a nice snack or breakfast item.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Hello folks! The chances are you have forgotten me completely, owing to my absence in the past few months.... The thing is, I was too busy with my sweet creation, that I didn't want to miss out a single moment of his growing up... I did miss blogging though, but then the baby came first!

Well, now he is over 6 months and giving us a wonderful time. He is a co operative baby, touch wood, lets us do our work provided we are around, talking out to him every few minutes. More updates on him here. Let me now get on to today's recipe!

Here's Cream cheese Pound cake, one of the best cakes I've ever baked! it was baked sometime during my pregnancy, in the second trimester, to carry along for a trip we were going. With my pregnancy hormones in full action, throwing up at its peak, food aversion at its maximum, there were very few foods that I craved for, and that I felt like cooking or baking. One of them was this cake and boy, was I glad I baked it! I just loooooved it! I've had it for breakfast, and lunch and as snack on a couple of days during that trip!

Well, it makes a pretty big cake and keeps well, fresh for at least 3 days. It has such a wonderful taste and a good crumb texture.It is a cold oven cake, meaning the oven is not preheated before placing the batter. We both loved loved having it and finishing off the huge cake in just a couple of days! The calories, you say? Of course, I was pregnant with just a handful of cravings, and we were on a trip to a nature reserve, which involved a LOT of walking and walking!